By Jeff Aronow: Former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez will face Jose Uzcategui in a rescheduled fight on November 13th in the main event on Showtime at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Benavidez, 24, and Uzcategui had been scheduled to fight on August 28th, but the contest had to be postponed due to David becoming ill with COVID-19.
Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) vs. former IBF super middleweight champion Uzcategui (31-4, 26 KOs) will be tangling in a WBC 168-lb title eliminator in a Premier Boxing Champions event. The winner of the contest will be the mandatory challenger to WBC 168lb champion Canelo Alvarez.
In the undercard, former welterweight world title challenger Jose Benavidez faces Franciso Emanuel Torres in a 10-round scheduled bout at 154. Jose is the brother of David Benavidez.
If David can beat Uzcategui, 30, he’ll be mandatory for WBC 168lb champion Canelo Alvarez. However, that doesn’t guarantee that Benavidez will get the fight, as Canelo is expected to vacate his WBC title and the rest of the belts soon to move up to 175.
Canelo is battling IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant on November 6th for the undisputed championship. If Canelo wins that fight, he’s not likely to want to stay in the weight class to defend the belts against guys like Benavidez.
Canelo must face Benavidez sooner or later
“In November, we’ll go back to Arizona and keep the same plan that we had fighting there,” said David Benavidez’s dad, Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fighthype. “We’re super excited and I’m super happy that David is 100% good.
“We’re in a good position right now, even though if Canelo wouldn’t take the fight with Caleb, it would be a great opportunity for us to fight Caleb Plant.
“If he [Canelo] beats Caleb, who is there for him to fight? Charlo or David. Those are the fights that people want to see already and we’re getting there.
“David’s fight with Uzcategui is to show the people something that has never been done and that’s to stop Uzcategui. That was the plant, and that’s still the plan to still fight him and look spectacular in order to get the bigger fights.
“Definitely, I don’t doubt that. I think we are going to get that fight sooner or later,” said Jose Sr. about Canelo eventually facing Benavidez.
“We just have to stay patient and keep working hard, staying focused, and staying disciplined. That fight will definitely come back because Canelo is going to run out of fighters. To me, he’s the best pound-for-pound right now.
“He has to challenge these fighters and fight David in order for him to go to another division or keep at 168. He [Canelo] can’t avoid him [Benavidez] forever.
“Even though if he goes to 175, we might meet up with him at 175 if he didn’t fight him at 168. What excuse is he [Canelo] going to have at 175?
“David feels very comfortable at 168 right now, and we’re not planning on moving to 175 right now. Who knows?
“He’s only 24-years-old and his body is responding well and he feels comfortable at 168. I wouldn’t call it ducking [by Canelo], but it’s a business right now.
Canelo and his team have said it before that David would bring them some problems. They want to make sure they have a better opportunity of beating people in an easier way.
“A guaranteed win. With David, there’s no guarantee. It’s a dangerous fight. I don’t think no fighter is afraid to fight anybody, but they’re in the position right now where it’s more about business and keeping those [168-lb] belts and his streak of winning right now.
“But I think it’s going to have to happen,” said Jose about Canelo eventually needing to face Benavidez.
It’s likely that Benavidez will need to move up to 175 if he wants to try and get a fight with Canelo because he could be done with the 168-lb division after he faces Plant.
If Benavidez goes up to 175, he shouldn’t expect Canelo to suddenly agree to fight him because he’s never shown interest in fighting him. Whether you want to call that ducking or not is unclear.